Oz The Great and Powerful

I knew about the famous wizard of Oz but I never actually read the book or watch the movie. If not because of a friend asked me to watch "Wicked" last year, I wouldn't be bothered about this movie. I more or less know about the story and I was not to keen on the choice of actors and actresses. Yes, even with 3 witches! Haha.. I asked a few friends who watched it and the response ranged from "so so" to "very good". I thought that it means the movie is at least above average or better.

I watched without knowing any spoilers before hand because the story is more or less predictable: Oz flies on an airballoon which is subsequently trapped by a tornado and eventually he lands on the land of Oz. The people of Oz believed him as the Wizard and he plays along using his magic trick as his wizardry. Eventually the wizard will somehow rule the land. My prediction failed on one part: the 3 witches are not all good! It was the battle between Glinda the Good vs the other 2 Wicked Witches.

Not even 5 minutes into the movie, I was already disappointed and I regretted watching. I thought the "intro" part was too long. I mean come on, we all know that somehow Oz had to go into the air balloon. So why is the circus thingy so long? It also did not make sense that he still climbed to the air balloon when it was obvious that the weather was changing for worse. Bleah..

When he landed to Oz, I thought things would get better with all the colours. I was wrong! I felt like leaving the cinema already. I just HATE it when I can obviously see that the actors are playing against green screen and then the marvellous CGs are inserted subsequently. I know that nowadays who don't use green screen? But in this movie, the way they "stick" the humans to the background is atrocious. It is so jarring to the eyes!

I also think that the acting is rather akward. James Franco seems like he is trying waaaay too hard to be funny here. Mila Kunis looks wicked right from the start. It does not suit her character which was a goodie turned wicked. And once she becomes a Wicked Witch, she is waay more wicked than Rachel Weisz who is supposed to be the evil mastermind in the movie. Michelle Williams seems to be the least atrocious ones but her Glinda is still pretty bad.

Some of my friends also mentioned that the movie was quite funny. I beg to differ. I think it is more lame rather than funny.

Oh well, I should not complain. Thank goodness I used the free movie ticket to watch this. Haha.. If I have to mention something good about this movie, it will be about how the movie change the whole meaning of Chinatown and China Girl. Lol. China = porcelain. So the Chinatown in Oz is a place where all the buildings and the residents are made of porcelain. And China Girl is a girl of made of china, not made in China! That's a big difference. Haha..